Thursday, December 30, 2010

Now that I've given you a year-end review of what really matters (music—in album and single form—and hot men) and some things that don't (memes), it's time to take a look at what the rest of the entertainment world had to offer.

Live MusicI don't see nearly as many concerts these days as I used to, back when ticket prices weren't outrageous. However, I did manage to catch a few shows this year.

The Best: Gorillaz at Madison Square Garden, NYC, October 8. Ah, it was wonderful to finally see Damon Albarn in the flesh, even if I wasn't in his lap as I had requested. Damon looked and sounded lovely and the set was packed with great tunes and special guests. The best part of all was that, thanks to a friend, I didn't even pay for the ticket, which would have normally cost a pretty penny. Actually, no...the best part may have been the discovery of MSG's awesome plastic beer mug with the pretzel rod-holder handle (captured here by another Gorillaz fan, along with some other great shots of the show). Yeah, I took two of those babies home.

The Rest:Norah Jones at St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, January 27John Hiatt at Carnegie Library Music Hall, Pittsburgh, March 10Lollapalooza at Grant Park, Chicago, August 6Brendan Benson/The Posies at Mr. Small's Funhouse, Pittsburgh, November 11

TelevisionI watch too much TV in general, yet somehow have managed to miss all the cricially acclaimed shows, like Breaking Bad and The Good Wife. I no longer have pay channels, so I simply can't watch biggies like True Blood and Dexter. But I also prefer comedies and garbage TV to dramas. Not that I don't enjoy any dramas...I do like Mad Men, but I've only seen up through Season 2 because I just kept forgetting to watch it. I'll have to start Netflixing it, but it's going to have to wait until I'm done with LOST, which I avoided during its entire run and am now obsessed with. I'm in the middle of Season 5 and it's blowing my mind, yo.

The Best:Community. If you watch it and have the ability to laugh, I don't see how this could even be up for debate. There is no other comedy on TV now (not even my beloved It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) that is this consistently laugh-out-loud funny. I think it's getting shafted (ratings and popularity-wise) being the lead-off show in NBC's stellar Thursday night lineup (well, it will be stellar once they get rid of Outsourced and bring Parks and Recreation back) because it should really be in the clean-up spot. I find that, while The Office and 30 Rock still crack me up, they're always like an anti-climax to the orgasmic hilarity of Community. Whenever I have to DVR everything, I always save it for last.

And because I know someone will mention it, I should just tell you right now that I've never seen Modern Family. Oh, I know, I know...it's better than puppies farting rainbows. I'll get around to checking it out eventually.

The Rest:30 Rock, The Office, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (an uneven season with some gems—see my Starpulse recaps), Glee, The Soup, Project Runway (despite crowning the worst winner ever—again, see my Starpulse recaps), Top Chef and Cash Cab (best game show EVER).

The Best of the Worst:Married to Rock. I'm sorry, but I can't look away from this show. How can you not be amused by Steve Stevens' wife and marvel at the level of Perry Farrell's p-whippedness? Also, hello? Duff McKagan!

MoviesI didn't go to the theater much. Since Netflix came into my life, I don't see the point.

The Best: This is a toughie, but I guess the two Leonardo DiCaprio mindbenders cancel each other out and Toy Story 3 comes out on top. It only seems fair, since I nearly peed myself with excitement when I first saw the teaser for it last year. And while the movie didn't end up the best of the Toy Story series (I still love Part 2 the most), it's a perfect ending (maybe?) and a beautifully-made film. It's definitely the most adult-themed installment of the franchise. That's why the overwhelming majority of those you heard blubbering in the darkened theaters were over 25.

The Rest: I'll have to do this a little differently than the other categories, by giving each movie I saw this year a grade. (I think these are in order of release, if Wikipedia can be trusted.) The ones I saw in the theater (or drive-in, in at least one case) are in red.

Frozen: B-

Shutter Island: A-

The Ghost Writer: B-

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: B

Date Night: C

After.Life: C

Sex and the City 2: D+

Grown Ups: C

Inception: A

Paranormal Activity 2: C

BooksDuhhhhhh. This is, um, like my leastest literate year ever in forever and stuff. *sigh* I don't know what my problem is. Sometimes I get in these grooves where I read constantly and then sometimes I just don't feel like reading and the next thing I know, I've gone a whole year without reading anything more substantial than Entertainment Weekly. My BFF gave me Rob Sheffield's Talking to Girls About Duran Duran this summer, so that will probably be the first book I read when I turn my brain back on and stop drooling. One I won't be reading? Probably the one Nicole Richie wrote.

You need to check out "The Town," Ben Affleck is getting better as an actor and he is certainly hitting his stride as a director. Also, the Stieg Larson trilogy is much better in book form despite the author's tendencies to ramble on for entire pages about semi-obscure (even for Swedes) Swedish politics.

We were looking for episodes of Community at the video store to go with the Chinese takeout for New Year's Eve Eve (NYE squared?), but we obviously live in some kind of cool series deathzone. Fortunately somebody got the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia six pack for Christmas, so we never have to leave the house.

I pretty much agree with everything you said about TV. Even the Married to Rock. I love that show. My husband rolls his eyes, and goes in the other room when I watch it. I'm like, HELLO? Boobies, Blondes, Guitars? What's not to love?

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I am a winsome muse who was sent to Earth to inspire an artist to turn a vacant building into the world's coolest disco roller rink. We fell in love along the way, and I foolishly gave up my immortality. When the disco craze ended and all the roller rinks were shut down, that lazy bum wouldn't get a job. We broke up and I was stuck on Earth with nothing to do and no one to inspire. So, now I write a blog.